‘Dexter’ Series Finale Discussion: A Flabby, Flaccid, Manipulative, Horrible Cop Out Of An Ending

Eight years we’ve watched Dexter (or at least, those who didn’t quit and are checking this recap just to see what happened: Spoiler Alert: It was dumb), and for eight years, we’ve often wondered what the endgame would be. Would Debra finally take down Dexter? Would he finally meet a serial killer better at it than him? Would the Miami P.D. find him out? Would they discover his blood slides? Would he become the subject of a manhunt? Would he die in a spray of machine gun bullets? Or would he get away with everything, ending Dexter with just another day at the office: Analyzing blood, killing bad people. Rinse, repeat. Nothing gained, nothing lost.

Turns out, none of that would happen. What happened was wholly unpredictable, but that’s only because it’s impossible to predict endings as dumb as Dexter’s. At this point in the series, with the show having fallen as far as it has, there was literally no ending that could’ve salvaged the final season, short of one that miraculously rewrote the last four seasons. The series tried to give us a dark finale, borrowing a fake-out plot contrivance from Michael C. Hall’s old show, Six Feet Under, but in the end, it couldn’t even go all the way into the darkest timeline. Dexter pussed out, dropping a post-script that was even dumber than what came before it. A LUMBERJACK?

Dexter couldn’t stick the landing. It couldn’t even find the runway. The Dexter series finale crashed and burned into a giant bowl of dicks 100 miles from the airport.

Before we get into last night’s episode, let’s take a moment to remember a few plotlines that DIDN’T F***KING MATTER. Remember Masuka and his daughter, Nikki? What the hell was that about? Did it matter at all, to anything? ANYTHING? Or what about Quinn’s competition with the black detective for the promotion? Just wheel spinning, huh? Killing time. God, what a disaster of a final season.

First off, I love this SUBTLE reminder in the airport about where Dexter and Hannah are going, because the fact that Hannah and Dexter have managed to say that they want to go to Argentina 109 times during the past three episodes wasn’t enough to drill it into our heads.

So, Elway is onto Hannah, and he’s scouting out the airport in search for her. Dexter comes up with a brilliant plan to blame a bomb threat on Elway by placing a few things in a backpack (I had hoped against hope that he was planning a cool MacGyver move, but then I remembered that this is Dexter). Alas, Elway was detained for questioning, but the bomb threat also backfired when the Miami airport is completely evacuated.

Meanwhile, Debra is taken to the hospital, and she seems to be OK. You know how we know she’s not OK?

She’s a goner. But we have to go through the motions anyway, don’t we?

The captain calls Dexter to let him know that Debra’s been shot, which ruins what are already completely ruined plans. Elsewhere, Saxon is on the loose, bleeding from the gunshot wound in the arm that Debra gave him last week. He walks into a crowded grocery store parking lot and knocks a guy out with the butt of his gun and takes his truck. Nobody sees him, though. You know how I know? Because Saxon looked around the crowded parking lot, which is the universal shot for, “Nope. Nobody in this super crowded parking lot saw me knock out a guy and take his truck.”

The timeline is completely effed, by the way. When Debra was shot last week, it was getting darker (kind of).

Now, an hour or two later, it’s clearly the middle of the day. Elway calls the U.S. Marshall service, and OF COURSE, even though it’s only been an hour or two, the dispatcher at the U.S. Marshall service has no problem letting a stranger who calls know that Clayton is dead, never mind that the killer is still on the loose.

Back at the hospital, the doctor tells Dexter that Debra is going to be just fine. How do we know she won’t be?

‘Dexter’ Series Finale Discussion: A Flabby, Flaccid, Manipulative, Horrible Cop Out Of An Ending

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Just finished the whole series yesterday on netflix. I stopped watching after season 5 ended because I thought I can’t imagine dexter getting that spark back that season 4 had. I was right. Season 6, wasn’t too bad but not a great season. Season 7 made me happy lagrwherta (sorry can’t spell her name) was killed, but that season was totally blah and the character Hanna for dexter hitting it off was really quick for me to not think its believable.

Then there is season 8. Harrison was better if he barely talked, this kid was a horrible actor (i get he is a kid but I am sure they could have gotten someone better, especially after the tredmill incident). I liked the story line of the psychologist knowing she guided Harry and help create the code, it makes a lot of sense, and almost fells like it should have been introduced a season earlier. The BRAIN SURGEON, yeah what a terrible anti climatic killer of the season. Halfway through when they thought they got him I know it can’t be. I was hoping it would have been the psychologist. But instead a out of the blue thing to pull in her son who was not intimidating at all with his weird eyes. I don’t know, this season was terrible. I have to say this was my least fav season out of all of Dexter.

The simple explanation for the ending that explains all the inconsistencies was that Dexter is Satan himself!
Who else could survive all the attacks plus sail into a Cat 5 and survive.
Then appear at a desk in Aroostook county, Maine with that final stare that says “I always survive; I’m always there.”

P.S. I thought they should have cut it off with his death in the Hurricane, which would have made a decent ending instead of trying to cover every possible ending. Sicne I was trying to “catch up” with both Dexter and Breaking Bad ,I ended up watching two episodes a night of each at the end so I didn’t sweat the small details. But BB definitely had a better ending. I week Later I attended WW’s funeral in Albuquerque. Maybe they could have had a “Dexter” funeral in Miami if they had used my ending.

Let’s get serious, folks. The entire series was chock full of facts and circumstances that were simply not believable, but those of us who watched it, year after year, were willing to suspend our disbelief because we liked the idea of a sociopathic killer who directed his homocidal energies to killing bad guys. The fact that he could whup anyone on two legs? Carry a 300pound bastard in a couple of trash bags? Believed it. The fact that he could go weeks without sleep, spend day after day out of the office and never be reprimanded, the fact that he had enough money to do whatever he wanted to do? We believed it.

I’m not sure any of the hugely improbably events on the finale (carrying Deb to his boat with nobody noticing) were any more unbelievable that what had gone on for the past 8 years.

I personally don’t think his surviving the storm is all that incredible. Assume he took his boat out toward the storm then locked the throttle and the wheel so that it would ride into the storm until the fuel ran out or it capsized. And any competent ocean swimmer could make it back to shore in the protected waters of a bay.

I think the writers intentionally left the characters in position so that if there is any great demand for a sequel a couple years out, it could be done.

The all-time worst ending was Lost, followed closely by the Soprano’s. Best? Definitely, Six Feet Under.

Would like to point something out. I had never watched Dexter before last night. Not even a minute. But i watched the finale, sniggering quietly to myself.
Upon seeing this at the side of a BB story i was reading, i clicked to read. When i opened the 3rd page, i unlocked #1 on the “unlock characters” thing that Uproxx does.
So simply by reading i’m unlocking stuff? Dexter must be REALLY good. Cheers Uproxx :)

On a side note, i agree that it was a complete cop out for all the characters, despite never having watched it before. I then watched 10 minutes of season 1, episode 1. “If i ever had feelings for anyone, i would have them for Deb”
Evidently….

I only managed to watch it tonight, having avoided all spoilers. I literally laughed at it. This recap is GENTLE in tearing it apart. The dialogue sounded like an 8th grader wrote it: no depth, no complexity, no thought whatsoever. The whole thing with Deb’s body was crazy. Beyond nobody noticing, the notion that they have a dock at the EMERGENCY ROOM DOOR is insane. Plus, Dexter goes out on his boat, at the front edge of a hurricane (remember, the palm trees were leaning over outside by this point), and there is almost no wind or waves, and ZERO RAIN.

And why does Dexter dump her body overboard in the same manner as the others he’s killed? For a show that has been so explicit in pointing out the obvious details, they failed to draw any connection there. Just one more for the road, before heading out to his not-death?

The upside is, it was the worst ending imaginable, so it isn’t like there’s any reason to suggest anyone bother with the last four seasons at all.

Couple of other things. First, the timeline is so screwed up because the bus ride from Miami to Jacksonville where they were supposed to catch a flight is about 5 hours. There is no way way 5 hours passes between when Dexter last sees Hannah and when he talks to her as she boards the plane.
And also in Florida our hospitals don’t have boat docks attached to them. Not one. Although nothing about his removal of Deb’s body makes any sense at all.

When Dexter has Deb’s body in the boat (headed toward the hurricane that is not creating any waves), and is about to pull the sheet off… I was really hoping it was going to be Doakes. And he was going to leap up and say:

“SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!”

Then after ghost Doakes surprises Dexter, he (Dexter) lunges after him– both falling into the Ocean. Dexter thinking he has Doakes by the neck and is killing him.

Doakes and Dexter float down towards the Ocean floor. Ghost Doakes smiling, while Dexter is drowning. As his life force ebbs, Dexter closes his eyes: sees a young buff Keith running with a football smiling, and Dexter smiles… End frame: Dexter eyes open, his body no longer moving. Ghost Doakes smiles, satisfied…

Much like “jumping the shark” signifies a tv show that has lost quality and become a worse version of itself, I would like to coin the term “becoming a lumberjack” for a character that is taken in a ridiculous direction that is not only silly, but makes no sense in the context of what that character’s development arc had been previously. See Morgan, Dexter.

borth myself and my girlfriend were literally screaming at the television as he was wheeling out Deb’s body. “NO ONE SEES HIM??? NO ONE SEES HIM. ARE WE SERIOUS THAT NO ONE AT ALL IS SEEING THIS RIGHT NOW? FUCK THIS SHOW. FUCCCKK THIS SHOOOOWWWW”

I’m bordering on a stroke while trying to wrap my head around the scene of Elway catching Hannah on the bus. How is it humanly possible that she didn’t see him sitting roughly 12″ from him? How did he manage to not only get to the bus station in time, but also get a seat right next to her? Why did he waste money on a ticket instead of grabbing her before they left?

The sad thing is that’s just one of the million questions that arise from this episode/final season. What a waste of a once great show.

Isn’t there a HUGE plot hole here…what about Rita’s parents? Won’t they be like, “Wait, Dexter is dead? Where’s his son Harrison?!” No one mentioned Dexter taking his son on the boat in the hurricane, so presumably Harrison was on his way to the airport as well, and no one even mentions his whereabouts? I mean, sure, I doubt they’ll find him in Argentina, but you think Elway can’t track Hannah McKay, who hasn’t changed ONE SINGLE THING ABOUT HER LOOKS! Even dumb movies allow the fugitive heroine to cut their hair at least!

Also, awful how both Matsuka and Bautista’s sister don’t even get a real ending. They just kinda fade away. No mourning for Dexter or Harrison. Writers loused this one up big time.

a show that began as a fun little show about a serial killer who kills murderers ends with a deadbeat dad faking his death to become Brawny. fuck you, Scott Buck. fuck you, Showtime. fuck you, Me for watching after season 4.

I absolutely hated this show from season 5 onward (season 5 less than the other stuff, but not by much), but all things considered, I didn’t think the finale was too bad. Maybe it was the fact that I was expecting the leaked ending, but with what they had to work with going into the finale, I was happy with some of the choices the writer’s made.

-Dexter finally got what he deserved, albeit three years late. Completely alone, everyone he cares about either dead or assuming he’s dead, without even stupid ghost Harry. He’s been bumbling along for four seasons pretending he understood the cost of being a serial killer, but after losing Deb, he finally actually feels the weight of his actions.

-Deb dying was an inevitability after last week, but sending her out the way they did, not guns blazing or with one of her one liners, but as a shell of her former self and Dexter’s final kill, was a bold move.

-Thank god Dexter didn’t end up in Argentina with Hannah and Harrison. That’s all.

Of course the episode was filled with ridiculous decisions and plot holes, but the difference between this episode and the 12 (?) that preceded it, and three seasons that preceded them, is that they got some things right as well.

How many of those actually KNEW they were being cancelled & didn’t get a chance to wrap it up? Dexter knew well ahead of time that they were going down & still took a steaming dump on the final season.

Yes. Lost was frustrating because we didn’t get enough answers but at least it was consistent with the tone and characters of the show. This was just a clusterfun of idiocy. I could write up a list of the 5 dumbest things this episode and you could give 5 totally different reasons!

I was so disappointed with this season that I wrote my own version of season 8. In my version, Vogel’s son cuts out people’s eyes, Dexter teaches the code to Zach and Quinn/Masuka/Batisista finally figure out what Dexter is. It ends with Dexter doing the slo-mo perp walk we’ve all been waiting for, then getting shot and killed by Deb as he tries to escape. Epilogue, Zach, the new Dexter, finds Deb and puts her on his kill table. Dead Dexter, Zach’s version of Harry, appears and approves of his work. END SCENE.

So I stopped watching Dexter after either the 3rd or the 4th series and I thought Dexter killed killers in secret not stab him with his arm? Like how can you kill someone with a pen which is stabbed into your arm? So quick question is this final series/season more or less realistic then Ratatoing?

Jesus…they are so desperate for page hits that I get a badge and i didn’t even type anything…seriously, I only came on here to say that I stopped watching two episodes into season 1 and should probably try to get back into it but now I don’t care…